Gaining an “unfair advantage”

Wednesday, 8th November, 2017

Unfair Advantage

Business skills and financial planning

Ahead of a busy month Mark Heywood, Michael-Walford Williams and Emily Man got together to talk about their returning club events aimed at giving creative freelancers an edge when it comes to business skills and financial planning. Here’s what they had to say.

Mark – Emily it’s great that your session “Work Until I Die?” is back again. What was the reaction to the first session and what are your plans for the event later this month?

Emily – Thanks Mark – the reaction to the first session was very exciting. Many people didn’t know the ins and outs of their pensions and, I think, my passion for the subject (I know, unusual!) was clearly felt! In the next event I am going to be talking a bit more about making sure that people understand how to protect their families both now and in the future.

Michael – Last time we focused on some basic risk mistakes that creatives expose themselves to and hopefully how best to avoid them. We tried as much as possible to use language that creatives would relate to and connect with. Often these topics can be a little inaccessible or people don’t know where to begin so we want to break down some of the barriers and get people thinking about how to strengthen their businesses to give them the best possible chance.

Emily – I think that’s right. Especially when dealing with financial planning. Often people don’t address it because they think they don’t understand it.

Michael – Exactly. So what we’re trying to do is use language that’s relatable. This time we’re focused on things that could sink a pitch before you’ve even got in the room. Mark’s going to use a great analogy about trying to get into the VIP area of a nightclub. There’s a whole bunch of things that can get in the way of that, and the same goes for you pitching to a client.

Emily – And that’s before you even get in the room?

Michael – Absolutely. Simple things that can really trip you up. There’s nothing worse than putting your blood, sweat and tears into your creative project or business and falling down on the simple stuff that you hadn’t thought about. We want to help people to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Mark – Emily is that the same in your field? You work with lots of creative freelancers. Are there similarities in the things people struggle with when it comes to financial planning?

Emily – well, pensions can be really complicated and I love helping people to unpick their pension history, or help them really make a difference to their future selves.

Mark – Michael you’re going to be talking about things a client wants to hear. Once a creative is in the room with a client what’s important then?

Michael – Well obviously you need to be prepared and know your pitch, but what we’ll try and do in the session this week is talk about the additional things that a client will want to hear. Things that have nothing to do with product and price, but that are critical when it comes to rating you alongside the other people who are pitching. These are questions you may never have considered and they’ll absolutely give you an unfair advantage.

Mark – Emily, what topics might be on the horizon for your event in 2018?

Emily – I want to bring in some of my colleagues who have insights in to the markets and talk a bit about what they are working towards and planning for.

Mark – and Michael?

Michael – we’d love to start to get some special guests along to join us to talk about specific case studies that might help members. We’ll also be launching our information pack that will provide a bunch of templates that can help members deal with the specific risks and scenarios we talk about in the session. We’d love to hear from other members if they have any suggestions!

Mark – And hopefully Emily we can try and combine forces with you and your event at some point. Thanks to you both and best of luck with the sessions.